Losing your job later in your career can be difficult as it may have been many years since you needed to write a new CV or be grilled in an interview. The Times will be following a group of jobseekers, all over 50, who are looking to get back into work with a little help from our panel of experts.

Brian Adams, 56

Work: Worked in maintenance. Made redundant two years ago

Family: Married, one grown-up son

Lives in: Barbican, London

Looking for?: Handyman, caretaker, maintenance worker

Says: “It’s not just young people that are struggling”

Two years ago, when his company downsized, only 15 of Brian Adams’ 250
colleagues kept their jobs. “That was March 31, 2009,” he said, “and I have
been looking ever since”. He estimates that he has applied for 200 to 300
jobs in the past six months, and he has had only two interviews.

While he initially claimed jobseeker’s allowance and signed on, because